*The Williams sisters made their presence known early Monday in the first round of the Australian Open. Serena, 39, pummeled Laura Siegemund 6-1 6-1 shortly after her older sister Venus, 40, rolled through Kirsten Flipkens 7-5 6-2.
“This was a good start. Definitely vintage ‘Rena,'” said Serena, the seven-time Australian Open champ, in her on-court post-win interview .
“It’s definitely good. I think I’m pretty good at pacing myself in a grand slam.”
“I was happy just to get through it. Wasn’t sure how my serve would be after a little bit of that shoulder, but it’s feeling good, I’m feeling good.”
Serena, bidding for a record-equaling 24th career grand slam title, also made a fashion statement with her eye-popping outfit – an asymmetric black, pink and red unitard with one full-length and one bike-short length leg from Nike, with which she has an ongoing partnership.
Watch below:
Venus, who has battled her share of injuries and health complications in her career, is playing in her 88th grand slam main draw in Melbourne. Williams, who won the last of her seven major titles at Wimbledon in 2008, was asked by a reporter in her post-game press conference if being 40 was on her mind when she took the court.
“Would it be front of mind for you if you were playing a professional tennis match,” Venus said, waiting for the man to answer. After an awkward silence, the reporter answered, “Not necessarily.”
Venus said: “There you go.”
Here’s Venus’ separate post-win on-court interview below:
Below are highlights from Venus and Serena’s first round matches:
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